Katherine von Swartzschild
Katherine Von Swartzchild was a vampire and daughter of Baron von Swartzchild. She was very sick when she was young, and was told by a surgeon that she was going to die. After this news, her maid, Gudren, fetched the village-vampire Klaus and asked him to turn her into a vampire. He did so, though Katherine had no say in the matter, and she became a vampire. Believing she was still sick, her father took her to the Salvatore Boarding House to cheer her up. There she met Stefan Salvatore, the son of Conte di Salvatore, and fell in love with him. However, she also fell in love with his brother, Damon. In The Awakening, she said to both of them that the only way to stay in Salvatore Boarding House is to marry someone. She said that she will tell them which one at Sunday in twilight. She came to Stefan and gave him her blood, also giving Damon her blood. Stefan and Damon found ashes outside with her ring and dress, along with a note saying that she was selfish. Damon and Stefan blamed each other for her death, and stabbed eachother, they both died. They woke up in thier graves, with the sunlight rings on. They had both been turned into vampires. Physical Appearance Physical appearance wise, Katherine was extremely beautiful and both of the Salvatore brothers greatly admired her beauty and her elegance. Katherine is said to bear a very strong physical resemblance to Elena Gilbert, in terms of colouring and facial features. Physically, Katherine almost looks exactly alike to Elena. Katherine has very white skin and a pale, translucent complexion which is soft and said to be perfect and flawless (Stefan has said that Katherine's complexion is very flawless). Katherine has deep, blue jewel eyes, which have been said to strongly resemble a kitten's eyes. Like Elena, Katherine has golden blond hair, which is described as fair and flaxen in colouring. However, despite the many similarities in both Katherine and Elena's appearances, there are a few slight differences between the two girls. Katherine is more petite and short in stature, while Elena is taller then Katherine by a "good hand span", according to Stefan when he makes comparisons between Elena and Katherine. Katherine's eyes are also said to be wider in setting and they are much bluer then Elena's eyes, which have been described to be the colour of Lapis Lazuli (which is a deep, dark blue). While Katherine and Elena both have blond hair, Katherine's tone of hair colour is a few shades darker then Elena's (Elena's hair colour is a soft pale gold, almost white-blond in colouring). Katherine, like Elena, has long eyelashes, but her eyelashes are more "silvery" in colouring. Katherine's eyebrows match her eyelashes, as they are also silvery in colouring, while both Elena's eyebrows and eyelashes are a darker blond. At first, Katherine is described through flashbacks of memory. She finally makes her appearance in The Fury. She looks the same, except for her long, golden hair, which has grown past floor-length and now trails behind her; Elena initially mistakes it for a train on her gown (this indicates that vampire's hair does grow). Her face is also described (by Elena) simply as looking "wrong" and "distorted," twisted by hunger and mocking. A quote in The Fury describes the same physical resemblance between Katherine and Elena when they first encounter each other: "The figure in the trailing white dress turned from the candle she was lighting, and Elena saw what might have been her own face on it's shoulders. But it was a subtly distorted face, pale and beautiful as an ice sculpture, but wrong. It was like the endless reflections of herself Elena had seen in her dream of the hall of mirrors. Twisted and hungry, and mocking" (The Fury, p. 205). Another quote in The Fury continues to describe Katherine's resemblance to Elena: "Her voice was light and sweet — silvery, Elena thought. Like her eyelashes. There were silvery lights in her dress when she moved, too. But her hair was gold, almost as pale a gold as Elena's own. Her eyes were like kitten's eyes: round and jewel blue. At her throat, she wore a necklace with a stone of the same vivid colour" (The Fury, p. 205). Elena also describes Katherine's hair in The Fury: "She did a little pirouette, and Elena saw that what she had vaguely taken for the train to Katherine's dress was Katherine's hair. It flowed like molten gold down her back to spill over the floor, trailing behind her" (The Fury, p. 207). Because of the strong physical resemblance between Katherine and Elena, Katherine has actually considered that she may be a very distant relative of Elena's, although this was just an assumption on Katherine's part. Her voice has been described as light, sweet melodic and silvery. In order for her to walk around in the sunlight as a vampire, Katherine wore a protective necklace with a lapis lazuli stone around her neck. Personality Traits and Description In the beginning, during the flashbacks in the novels, Katherine, the beautiful vampire whom both Salvatore brothers fell in love with, appears to be a sweet, docile, naive, child-like, fragile and an emotionally vulnerable girl but a little bit on the selfish and immature side. When the Salvatore brothers first meet Katherine during the Renaissance, she is a fragile young German noblewoman with a dark secret (her secret being that she is a vampire). Katherine is soft-spoken, innocent, and excessively naïve. When Katherine and Stefan spent time together every day, their fathers were pleased and discussed a possible marriage. Stefan believes Katherine’s father is too fond of her to force her to marry against her will, thus leaving the choice of a husband to Katherine. In spite of her vampirism, she does not appear to understand shadow emotions and the darker side of life, and as such she fails to grasp the deep roots of the conflict between Stefan and Damon. She displays her childishness by refusing to choose between the two Salvatore brothers and believing that martyring herself will resolve their difficulties. Katherine was both of the Salvatore brother's maker; Katherine turned the two Salvatore brothers into vampires in an attempt to be happy with both brothers, instead of having to choose between the two of them. When this didn't work, she staged her 'suicide' by going into the sunlight without her ring, leaving behind a pile of ashes in one of her dresses. The two brothers fought to the 'death' because of her loss. She physically resembles Elena, which caused Stefan's initial attraction to Elena, though he later realized that Elena is emotionally stronger than Katherine, who was docile and gentle as was the standard in Renaissance Italy. However, in the centuries between the Italian Renaissance and the time of when she makes her first appearance in The Fury, Katherine has grown quite insane, which is at least partly attributable to the influence of Klaus. Over a period of time, Katherine has become the complete and total opposite of her old self —evil, crazy, barbaric, inhumane, vicious, cold-blooded, cold-hearted, wicked, murderous, vengeful, jealous, manipulative, malicious and hungry for power and revenge. She boasts about killing tons and tons humans and vampires over the past few centuries, displaying her psychopathic and murderous ways, and she has become hungry for power and revenge. However, despite her complete negative alteration in her character, Katherine still displays grief and heartbreak over what happened in the past with her and the both of the Salvatore brothers. She is intensely jealous of Elena and hates both Damon and especially Stefan, for daring to pursue another woman. When Stefan proposes to Elena and gives her the ring that belonged to Katherine, the latter becomes enraged and drives Elena's car into the river, killing her. She is revealed to be the "Other Power" that is damaging the town of Fells Church. In The Fury, Katherine becomes very antagonistic against Stefan, Damon and Elena. Katherine ties them all up, tortures them, displaying her barbaric nature, and finally reveals herself to the trio, taunting them with the details of her antics in Fell's Church, of which they had all been unaware. Meanwhile, she directs the dogs to attack students leaving the Snow Dance at Elena's high school. Katherine revealed in The Fury, that even though she deeply cared for both of the Salvatore brothers in the past, she had always loved Stefan much more than Damon and had grown a deep and intense obsession with Stefan over the years, hence one of the reasons why she grew so antagonistic towards Stefan and Elena. Biography Early Life Born in Germany in the 1500s to the Baron von Swartzschild, Katherine was frail during her childhood and her last illness was terminal. She recalls later that she was unable to breathe and too weak to move; her father was devastated. Gudren, her maid, sought out a vampire named Klaus who was in the local village at the time, and he made her into a vampire, saving her from death and making her much stronger than she had been in life. It is Gudren who advises her on the practicalities of being a vampire, telling her to have a lapis lazuli ring made as a talisman against the sun, and bringing her possets and small animals for feeding. Sometime after this her father brings her to Italy during the summer, as he believes the warmer climate will help her recover. He is likely an old friend of the Conte di Salvatore, as he stays with him and leaves Katherine at the estate when he has business in Florence. It is here that she meets the Conte's younger son, Stefan Salvatore and the two begin a relationship and courtship; she shares her secret of her being a vampire with him. Katherine and Stefan are deeply drawn to each other and like being in each other's presence, as they spend time with each other every day. They like each other enough that their fathers begin speaking of marriage. During her stay at the Salvatore estate, it is noted that she only leaves her chamber at twilight, but Conte Giuseppe overlooks this odd behaviour due to Katherine's overwhelmingly sweet personality. She tells Stefan that she does not drink human blood because she does not desire power; for the same reason despite Klaus' offers, she has not exchanged blood with him since her initial transformation. She believes that drinking human blood should not be done lightly, and she wants to wait until she has found an eternal companion. Damon's return from the university halts any talk of marriage, as Katherine is also drawn to his darkly seductive charm. When she intervenes in an argument between Damon and his father which would probably otherwise result in Damon being cut off from his inheritance, Stefan becomes jealous and the pre-existing tension between the brothers mounts. As summer begins to draw to a close, Damon notes that the Baron will soon leave Florence with Katherine, unless she chooses to marry and remain there. He also reveals that Katherine has shared her secret with him, intensifying Stefan's resentment. The brothers begin to fight for her affection in earnest, but Katherine reminds them that she is a vampire and cannot live like a normal Florentine lady, and declares that her husband must renounce ordinary human life for the shadows. Since this does not deter either of them she tells them that she needs time to choose. Katherine makes her choice by coming to them both separately during the night and exchanging blood with both, turning them into vampires, declaring that she wants the three of them to be 'joyous companions, forever'. Both brothers vehemently reject her decision, furious with jealousy and wounded pride. Katherine runs away from them in tears. She conceives a plan with Gudren's help that she believes will make Damon and Stefan put aside their hatred and realise their error: she fakes her own death. The next morning the brothers find what they believe to be Katherine's ashes and clothes beneath her favourite lemon tree. They blame each other for her death, fetch their swords and kill each other, waking up later in the family crypt as vampires. Meanwhile Katherine goes back to the German village to find Klaus, with whom she lives for centuries. The books suggest that he abuses her while teaching her to become a stronger vampire, and over time she becomes power-hungry and insane, losing utterly her childlike innocence and naïveté. She eventually attempts to kill Klaus, evidently believing that she has succeeded. At some point during the late twentieth century she comes to the American town of Fell's Church, where she sees Elena Gilbert, who bears a striking resemblance to her; Katherine considers that she may even be a very distant relative. She subliminally influences Stefan and Damon to follow her to the town, hoping that they will see Elena, honour her memory and feel remorse for the events of centuries ago. However, Stefan falls in love with Elena and Damon tries to seduce her. Katherine masquerades as a white kitten which Elena's little sister Margaret takes as a pet; at times she acts antagonistically towards the brothers, as when she traps Stefan in a well and has serious thoughts about wringing Damon's neck while he is in crow form -- a dream which Bonnie McCullough telepathically picks up on. When Stefan proposes to Elena and gives her the ring that belonged to Katherine, the latter becomes enraged and drives Elena's car into the river, killing her. After Elena awakens as a vampire, Katherine disturbs Elena's memorial service, influencing the town's dogs to attack their owners outside the church. This event causes Elena, Stefan and Damon to realise that something is amiss; they begin searching for the 'Other Power' in Fell's Church, which leads them to a deadly confrontation with Katherine in the tomb of Honoria Fell where she has taken up residence, and attacks them in the form of a snow-white tiger. Katherine ties them up, tortures them a little and finally reveals herself to the trio, taunting them with the details of her antics in Fell's Church, of which they had been unaware. Meanwhile she directs the dogs to attack students leaving the Snow Dance at Elena's high school. As she plots to kill them, Elena outwits her by lunging at her and removing her lapis lazuli necklace, causing her to burn up in the sunlight, turning the centuries-old lie into truth and saving the townspeople as well as Stefan and Damon. In Dark Reunion, Klaus arrives in Fell's Church seeking revenge for Katherine's death. Powers & Abilities Katherine became quite a powerful vampire, especially later on by the time of The Fury. Katherine, like all vampires, displayed the standard and basic vampire powers and abilities such as enhanced senses, super-speed and super-strength etc, although she could also have the ability to shape-shift into various different animal forms. Here were the powers and abilities that Katherine has used in the novels: *'Immortality:' Katherine had been alive since the Renaissance back in the 1500's. This means that Katherine is over 500 years old but still has the physical appearance of a teenage girl. She could never age and would remain youthful forever. *'Shape-shifting:' Due to Katherine's excessive intake of human blood from killing many innocent humans over the centuries, Katherine is powerful enough to shape shift into different animal forms. Katherine has been seen to shape shift into three animal forms: a white tiger, an owl and a kitten (which she transformed into in order to lure Elena's younger sister, Margaret, into inviting her in their house). *'Weather Manipulation: '''Katherine also had the ability to manipulate the weather and control the weather situations. She causes the miserable snow storm in The Struggle, when Elena was searching for a missing Stefan. She is also responsible for creating the terrible storm which caused Elena's car to go off into Wickery Bridge, killing her afterwards. *'Animal Control:' Katherine also possessed the ability of manipulating animals. After Elena awakens as a vampire, Katherine disturbs Elena's memorial service, influencing the town's dogs to attack their owners outside the church. *'Mind and Dream Manipulation:''' Katherine can also appear in people's dreams, and can subliminally influence them to do her bidding. When she traps Stefan in a well and has serious thoughts about wringing Damon's neck while he is in crow form -- a dream which Bonnie McCullough telepathically picks up on. Behind the Scenes *In the TV series, Katherine Pierce appeared in her place. *Katherine tells Elena, Stefan and Damon that her murderer Klaus centuries ago, but the Dark Reunion is the antagonist. This demonstrates the power of Klaus and Originals, which can manipulate the minds of others "vampires younger" than they. *Katherine was kind, selfish, reserved, but changed when she was found by Klaus and living with for years. She changes into a state of insane, manipulative, cruel, sadistic, and it is noted by both Elena and Stefan at their first meeting. Category:Vampire Diaries Characters Category:Antagonists Category:Vampires Category:von Swartzchild Family Category:Novel-Only Characters Category:Supernatural Category:Destroyed Vampires Category:Secret-Keepers